Cacophony of signs, signs of spring

Cacophony usually refers to a mix of noises, but can also refer to a chaotic situation, like these signs. Believe it or not, this is about what it looks like at the entrance to the route 136 highway tunnel under that goes underneath Montreal towards the east. I clipped some of the writing due to space limitation, it said Tunnel Ville Maria, Entree Inderdit quand les feux clingnotte (entrance prohibited when lights flashing). Also, no pedestrians, bikes, Amazon package deliveries, or watercolour painting allowed. A few pylons were placed for good measure. Painting something like this is tricky, it felt like doing a 100 question multiple choice exam.  

Cacophony of signs, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

The connector path between Old Montreal and Peel basin is finally opened again after being Fenced off for the last year or so. I got this view of the highway overpass with the melting ice of the basin below. I liked the two signs here, although in real life they were on separate posts which makes more sense. The interesting dark colour in the melting ice is a mix of burnt umber (PBr7) and indo blue (PB60). 

Peel basin signs, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Bridge Concorde connects the Old Port to st Helen's island, it was recently renovated to include a better bike path and resurfaced road. I stayed at the beginning of the bridge and painted a scene of the other bridge, Jacques Cartier, in the background. In the foreground are the pale turquoise railing, sidewalk, bike path, divider, and road, all bending to the right. The tall tree had small leaf buds visible. 

Bridge bridge path, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026  

  

Another sign of spring, this tree had golden yellow shoots growing upwards, awaiting the sunlight. A thin strip of ice clung to the rocky shoreline. I was looking down to the river from the same vantage point as the bridge painting. Sumac trees grew thick along the shoreline. Its been awhile since I painted water ripples. Today was warm enough to use fresh water which allowed more detail, and made for a more pleasant experience than past days. 

Shore ice tree, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026  

Another Saturday protest

 

Things were just too quiet, so I headed home along the Maisonneuve bike path and eventually heard loud yelling over a megaphone coming from the direction of Cabot square. Cops had blocked off car access to st Catherine, and people in cars were upset and shouting at the cops, who just shrugged. A large group of protestors had mobilized on st Catherine and were starting a slow March in an easterly direction. As usual, they had a full escort of police officers in cruisers, as you can see in the painting. The politics are not essential to understand here, you are seeing Canadian, American, and a pre-1979 version of the Iranian flag, along with police cruisers in the foreground.  

Another Saturday protest, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Despite the close proximity of the composition in painting number one, I was actually standing a bout two blocks away, not wanting to get caught in the ruckus like last time. On the corner of Atwater, a cop was blocking traffic, and also preventing buses from turning right into the depot area around Cabot square. It gave me enough time to paint the scene, replacing the police logo with my initials. It was a messy painting because I was getting snowed on the whole time and blasted with cold wind. 

Bus and cruiser, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026   

Last snow downtown Montreal

On what started out as a cool Spring day, I got a few paintings done downtown Montreal, including this one near the Peel basin. On the right is an old warehouse that is boarded up and protected by the City as a landmark. The graffiti people are enjoying it, I replaced the graffiti name with my initials, but used the same kind of font they used. 

Old warehouse graff, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

As the canal slowly melts, it gives off an array of blue-green reflections. A collection of buoys and markers were starting to move around in the soft ice, waiting for open water to emerge. In the foreground, is an old pier structure long since turned into a pedestrian and bike bridge, the bridge is unseen to my left. 

Buoys canal melt, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Down on Robert Bourassa street they put up these gigantic glass shards, probably over a hundred stories tall, where there used to be an old brick warehouses and factories. I painted the sky first, let it dry while I did another painting, then placed the buildings. In this way, the buildings kept a sharp edge to give them an artificial look. At street level are some old brick facades, and heavy traffic. 

Glass shards, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Waiting for the previous painting to dry I fired off another one of this pile of snow, perhaps the last pile of snow this season one would hope. On the left is the train elevation where the VIA trains arrive at the station. There is an incredible group of trees around here, just behind me on the left... I will go back and paint them when they have leaves if I get the chance. As I painted, suddenly winter turned back on, and I was getting pelted with hard snowflakes and a bitterly cold, gusting wind. 

Last pile of snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026   

 

Sundown on the Turcot warehouse

After the sun set on the Turcot highway interchange, the sky turned orange and blue with coral accents. As my paint brush froze and I froze, this painting was all about getting the right feel, in terms of colour, energy, and the ominous atmosphere of highways in the background.  

Turcot sundown traffic, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

This old warehouse shut down last year, now it site derelict as the city decides what to do with it, or some company wants to rent the massive structure. I'd like to see it turned into a wetland, renaturalized for birds and reptiles, but it seems unlikely! Piles of snow remained on the parking area, nestled in among the cool shadows. 

Sundown warehouse, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

The first painting I did, this one shows the sun almost down, hovering over the warehouse with truck trailers parked in the depot area. Its interesting to compare the colour and value range of this painting and the other two which were done afterwards. As the sun sets, it picks up more red light from the atmosphere and tints colours strongly. I have a lot of experience painting at all phases of sundown including at night, so its been interesting to develop different colour mixtures for the occasion. I did a page on how to paint skies, and how to paint at night. 

By they way, that sun-effect in the painting, I apply a yellow circle, orange circle and thin magenta circle, then surround in dilute phthalo blue with a slight orange tint on horizon. The hard part is getting the moisture levels on the brush equal on the colour changes so it all blends together, I suppose that's where the skill comes in. Too much water and all the colours blend, too little water and they wont merge properly. The paint started to freeze when I was doing it, luckily I brought some salt water to mix in. 

Sun down truck depot, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026  

What a wonderful day to paint!

With the LUFA delivery arriving late I rode down to Lachine canal with a small window of no rain. By the time I got there, I could paint a bit, then it started up with a steady cold drizzle. Snow was melting all over, but the canal still had most of its ice and snow covering which made for some good contrast. Across the street is st Patrick with the rush-hour traffic, and one of the green footbridges arching across. To make the toasty mushy grass colour I combined green umber (PBr7) with phthalo green yellow shade (PG36) and dabs of yellow ochre (PY43), burnt sienna (PR101), and carbon black (PBk6).  

Frozen canal Spring, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

The drizzle started up in the midst of this painting, I had to retreat under the nearby highway overpass to escape the rain. I let this one dry a bit and finished it last. It shows a footbridge, the billboard, and the highway overpass. 

Canal ice footbridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

These hybrid trees grow all along the canal in this location. Its some kind of alder tree although I am not sure which one, or if it really is a hybrid. They have a rough, vertical texture bark on their bottom, with a smooth, pale grey horizontal texture bark on the top branches. I made the pale grey with yellow ochre, carbon black, diluted with water. The bark, of course, is done with a mix of burnt umber (PBr7) and indo blue (PB60). Its a great mix for tree bark. 

Hybrid tree snow spring, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

As snow is removed from Montreal streets it gets dumped in this massive pile, more like a hill, right next to the Lachine Canal. When it melts, the runoff contaminated the canal with all sorts of chemicals and salt. You can see how the snow had a yellowish tinge, and was caked in a black sooty layer. In the foreground is st Patrick street with some traffic and a sliver of the canal on the bottom left. 

Dirty snow hill, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026  

Sunny day noon, tracks and Coffee park

Down where the Maisonneuve bike path turns upwards towards Coffee Park, there are good views of train tracks as seen behind a fence full of vines. I painted red highlights first, then filled in the rest of the scene, paying attention to the train track perspective. In summer, the fence and old telephone pole are covered in vines, which are hibernating at this time. Officially spring started but its still cold here. 

Tracks behind vines, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Here is a scene of a building across the way, which is probably Snowdon Bakery, with a service man stannding on the roof working on the ventilation system. I accidentally dropped a bead of wate, which looks exactly like a sun highlight reflecting off the iron train tracks, which is neat. As usual, I changed the graffiti since I prefer not to copy exact names that were written. 

Man on roof, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Coffee Park is surrounded by condos and a large apartment block up on Sherbrooke west. The park is in the foreground, with a mix of melting snow and last year's grass. I pushed up value contrast on the background elements to convey a sense of strong sunlight. This reminds me of scenes I would paint in London Ontario, that is going back over 30 years! In fact, the first location paintings I did were in 1995, Bolton and London Ontario. 

Coffee Park thaw, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026  

Empty lot snow

This snowy empty lot is on the corner of Ellerdale and Harley down in Westhaven where I go to get lunch sometimes. It used to be a condo building but the city tore it down last year leaving an empty lot. One would image new housing going up here, although I hope it is turned into a park for people to sit... at the end of Harley is the filed where I paint frequently, people set chairs up there and sit because there is no park in this neighborhood. The closest park is Coffee park across the train tracks. The brick colour was raw sienna (PBr7). After trying a whole bunch of yellow ochres and raw siennas, the one by Daniel Smith turned out to be the best for me. Since using it a lot in Brazil, I kept it on my palette and use it all the time now. 

Empty lot snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026